CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 211Digital Mental Health InterventionsEthics and Social Impacts of AIArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education

Exploring the Ethical Challenges of Conversational AI in Mental Health Care: Scoping Review

Open access
Rahsepar Meadi, Mehrdad, Sillekens, Tomas, Metselaar, Suzanne, van Balkom, Anton, Bernstein, Justin, Batelaan, Neeltje·2025·JMIR Mental Health
DOI 10.2196/60432PMC PMC11890142

Published version of a preprint

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Background: Conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) is emerging as a promising digital technology for mental health care. CAI apps, such as psychotherapeutic chatbots, are available in app stores, but their use raises ethical concerns. Objective: We aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of ethical considerations surrounding CAI as a therapist for individuals with mental health issues. Methods: We conducted a systematic search across PubMed, Embase, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, the Philosopher’s Index, and ACM Digital Library databases. Our search comprised 3 elements: embodied artificial intelligence, ethics, and mental health. We defined CAI as a conversational agent that interacts with a person and uses artificial intelligence to formulate output. We included articles discussing the ethical challenges of CAI functioning in the role of a therapist for individuals with mental health issues. We added additional articles through snowball searching. We included articles in English or Dutch. All types of articles were considered except abstracts of symposia. Screening for eligibility was done by 2 independent researchers (MRM and TS or AvB). An initial charting form was created based on the expected considerations and revised and complemented during the charting process. The ethical challenges were divided into themes. When a concern occurred in more than 2 articles, we identified it as a distinct theme. Results: We included 101 articles, of which 95% (n=96) were published in 2018 or later. Most were reviews (n=22, 21.8%) followed by commentaries (n=17, 16.8%). The following 10 themes were distinguished: (1) safety and harm (discussed in 52/101, 51.5% of articles); the most common topics within this theme were suicidality and crisis management, harmful or wrong suggestions, and the risk of dependency on CAI; (2) explicability, transparency, and trust (n=26, 25.7%), including topics such as the effects of “black box” algorithms on trust; (3) responsibility and accountability (n=31, 30.7%); (4) empathy and humanness (n=29, 28.7%); (5) justice (n=41, 40.6%), including themes such as health inequalities due to differences in digital literacy; (6) anthropomorphization and deception (n=24, 23.8%); (7) autonomy (n=12, 11.9%); (8) effectiveness (n=38, 37.6%); (9) privacy and confidentiality (n=62, 61.4%); and (10) concerns for health care workers’ jobs (n=16, 15.8%). Other themes were discussed in 9.9% (n=10) of the identified articles. Conclusions: Our scoping review has comprehensively covered ethical aspects of CAI in mental health care. While certain themes remain underexplored and stakeholders’ perspectives are insufficiently represented, this study highlights critical areas for further research. These include evaluating the risks and benefits of CAI in comparison to human therapists, determining its appropriate roles in therapeutic contexts and its impact on care access, and addressing accountability. Addressing these gaps can inform normative analysis and guide the development of ethical guidelines for responsible CAI use in mental health care.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.2196/60432

Cites

37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Existing scoping reviews focus on ethical challenges of LLM-CBs as psychotherapists without scoping harms for mental health specifically, or scope mass media narratives.

    “existing scoping reviews focus on ethical challenges of LLM-CBs as psychotherapists (e.g., focusing on consent, autonomy, and responsibility) without scoping harms for mental health specifically33, or scope mass media narratives in the shape of rapid scoping34.”

    From A scoping review on the mental health harms of LLM-based chatbots (2026) · cites this paper as [33]

    The paper does review ethical challenges of conversational AI used as therapists, but the Results (Ethical Themes; page unavailable) explicitly include a “Safety and Harm” theme covering 52 of 101 articles. That section examines mental-health-specific concerns, including responses to suicidality and harmful advice for people with eating disorders, contrary to the claim that it does not scope such harms. The separate mass-media-narratives clause is attached to citation 34, not this source. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Systematic and scoping reviews show that LLM-CB risks (e.g., consistencies, hallucinations, ethical risks) may outweigh potential benefits.

    “Systematic and scoping reviews show that LLM-CB risks (e.g., consistencies, hallucinations, ethical risks) may outweigh potential benefits33,76,77.”

    From A scoping review on the mental health harms of LLM-based chatbots (2026) · cites this paper as [33]

    The Results (Ethical Themes; page unavailable) identify harmful or hallucinatory suggestions, and the Discussion (Principal Findings; page unavailable) says such concerns could undermine CAI’s potential benefits. But the Discussion (Suggestions for Future Research) calls for evaluating risks against benefits to determine whether use is justifiable; the review does not conclude that risks may outweigh benefits. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 81

  1. [8]Blease C Locher C Leon-Carlyle M Doraiswamy M Artificial intelligence and the future of psychiatry: qualitative findings from a global physician survey Digit Health 2020 6 2055207620968355 10.1177/2055207620968355 33194219 10.1177_2055207620968355 33194219 PMC7597571 · DOI · Paper page
  2. [9]Brown C Story GW Mourão-Miranda J Baker JT Will artificial intelligence eventually replace psychiatrists? Br J Psychiatry 2021 03 06 218 3 131 4 10.1192/bjp.2019.245 31806072 S0007125019002459 31806072 · DOI
  3. [11]Coeckelbergh M Health care, capabilities, and AI assistive technologies Ethic Theory Moral Prac 2009 7 17 13 2 181 90 10.1007/S10677-009-9186-2 · DOI
  4. [12]Kerasidou A Artificial intelligence and the ongoing need for empathy, compassion and trust in healthcare Bull World Health Organ 2020 04 01 98 4 245 50 10.2471/BLT.19.237198 32284647 BLT.19.237198 32284647 PMC7133472 · DOI · Paper page
  5. [15]Sedlakova J Trachsel M Conversational artificial intelligence in psychotherapy: a new therapeutic tool or agent? Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 4 13 10.1080/15265161.2022.2048739 35362368 35362368 · DOI
  6. [16]Bond RR Mulvenna MD Potts C O'Neill S Ennis E Torous J Digital transformation of mental health services Npj Ment Health Res 2023 08 22 2 1 13 10.1038/s44184-023-00033-y 38609479 10.1038/s44184-023-00033-y 38609479 PMC10955947 · DOI · Paper page
  7. [19]Luxton DD Ethical implications of conversational agents in global public health Bull World Health Organ 2020 04 01 98 4 285 7 10.2471/BLT.19.237636 32284654 BLT.19.237636 32284654 PMC7133471 · DOI · Paper page
  8. [24]Gooding P Kariotis T Ethics and law in research on algorithmic and data-driven technology in mental health care: scoping review JMIR Ment Health 2021 06 10 8 6 e24668 10.2196/24668 34110297 v8i6e24668 34110297 PMC8262551 · DOI · Paper page
  9. [27]Zhong M Bilal AM Papadopoulos FC Castellano G Psychiatrists’ views on robot-assisted diagnostics of peripartum depression Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Social Robotics 2021 ICSR '21 November 10-13, 2021 Singapore, Singapore 464 74 10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_40 · DOI
  10. [28]Wieland LC Relational reciprocity from conversational artificial intelligence in psychotherapy Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 35 7 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191033 37130399 37130399 · DOI
  11. [29]Uusitalo S Tuominen J Arstila V Mapping out the philosophical questions of AI and clinical practice in diagnosing and treating mental disorders J Eval Clin Pract 2021 06 30 27 3 478 84 10.1111/jep.13485 32996664 32996664 · DOI
  12. [30]Molden H AI, automation and psychotherapy – a proposed model for losses and gains in the automated therapeutic encounter Eur J Psychother Couns 2024 02 21 26 1-2 48 66 10.1080/13642537.2024.2318628 · DOI
  13. [31]Coghlan S Leins K Sheldrick S Cheong M Gooding P D'Alfonso S To chat or bot to chat: ethical issues with using chatbots in mental health Digit Health 2023 9 20552076231183542 10.1177/20552076231183542 37377565 10.1177_20552076231183542 37377565 PMC10291862 · DOI
  14. [36]Gamble A Artificial intelligence and mobile apps for mental healthcare: a social informatics perspective ASLIB J Inf Manag 2020 06 02 72 4 509 23 10.1108/ajim-11-2019-0316 · DOI
  15. [38]Prakash AV Das S Intelligent conversational agents in mental healthcare services: a thematic analysis of user perceptions Pac Asia J Assoc Inf Syst 2020 06 30 12 1 34 10.17705/1thci.12201 · DOI
  16. [39]Qu C Sas C Roquet CD Doherty G Correction: functionality of top-rated mobile apps for depression: systematic search and evaluation JMIR Ment Health 2020 02 21 7 2 e18042 10.2196/18042 32130145 v7i2e18042 32130145 PMC7060497 · DOI
  17. [40]Ferrario A Sedlakova J Trachsel M The role of humanization and robustness of large language models in conversational artificial intelligence for individuals with depression: a critical analysis JMIR Ment Health 2024 07 02 11 e56569 10.2196/56569 38958218 v11i1e56569 38958218 PMC11231450 · DOI · Paper page
  18. [41]Wong RS ChatGPT in psychiatry: promises and pitfalls Egypt J Neurol Psychiatr Neurosurg 2024 01 30 60 1 14 10.1186/S41983-024-00791-2 · DOI
  19. [42]Rahsepar Meadi M Bernstein JS Batelaan N van Balkom AJ Metselaar S Does a lack of emotions make chatbots unfit to be psychotherapists? Bioethics 2024 07 12 38 6 503 10 10.1111/bioe.13299 38735049 38735049 · DOI · Paper page
  20. [44]Swartz HA Artificial intelligence (AI) psychotherapy: coming soon to a consultation room near you? Am J Psychother 2023 02 01 76 2 55 6 10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20230018 37317570 37317570 · DOI
  21. [46]Martinez-Martin N Viewing CAI as a tool within the mental health care system Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 57 9 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191058 37130393 37130393 · DOI
  22. [47]Fiske A Henningsen P Buyx A Burr C Floridi L The implications of embodied artificial intelligence in mental healthcare for digital wellbeing Ethics of Digital Well-Being: A Multidisciplinary Approach 2020 Cham, Switzerland Springer 207 19
  23. [48]Vasudevan M Alagarsamy S Mehrolia S Jeevananda S Can bot be my mental health therapist?: a pandemic panorama J Psychiatr Res 2021 02 134 30 1 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.052 33360221 S0022-3956(20)31160-2 33360221 · DOI
  24. [50]He Y Liang K Han B Chi X A digital ally: the potential roles of ChatGPT in mental health services Asian J Psychiatr 2023 10 88 103726 10.1016/j.ajp.2023.103726 37567084 S1876-2018(23)00282-4 37567084 · DOI
  25. [51]Omarov B Narynov S Zhumanov Z Artificial intelligence-enabled chatbots in mental health: a systematic review Comput Mater Contin 2022 74 3 5105 22 10.32604/cmc.2023.034655 · DOI
  26. [52]Alfano L Malcotti I Ciliberti R Psychotherapy, artificial intelligence and adolescents: ethical aspects J Prev Med Hyg 2023 12 64 4 E438 42 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2023.64.4.3135 38379752 38379752 PMC10876024 · DOI
  27. [53]Abbate-Daga G Taverna A Martini M The oracle of Delphi 2.0: considering artificial intelligence as a challenging tool for the treatment of eating disorders Eat Weight Disord 2023 06 19 28 1 50 10.1007/s40519-023-01579-8 37337063 10.1007/s40519-023-01579-8 37337063 PMC10279563 · DOI
  28. [55]Martinez-Martin N Kreitmair K Ethical issues for direct-to-consumer digital psychotherapy apps: addressing accountability, data protection, and consent JMIR Ment Health 2018 04 23 5 2 e32 10.2196/mental.9423 29685865 v5i2e32 29685865 PMC5938696 · DOI · Paper page
  29. [57]Arbanas G ChatGPT and other chatbots in psychiatry Arch Psychiatry Res 2024 7 2 60 2 137 42 10.20471/june.2024.60.02.07 · DOI
  30. [58]Hartford A Stein DJ The machine speaks: conversational AI and the importance of effort to relationships of meaning JMIR Ment Health 2024 06 18 11 e53203 10.2196/53203 38889401 v11i1e53203 38889401 PMC11220428 · DOI
  31. [59]van der Meer BC ChatGPT in de ggz: kansen en overwegingen Tijdschr Psychiatr 2024 66 3 161 164 38650514
  32. [60]Dos Reis Silveira PV Leitão Paravidini JL Ética da aplicação de inteligências artificiais e chatbots na saúde mental: uma perspectiva psicanalítica Rev Pesq Qual 2024 04 30 12 30 1 16 10.33361/RPQ.2024.v.12.n.30.717 · DOI
  33. [61]Pandya A Lodha P Ganatra A Is ChatGPT ready to change mental healthcare? Challenges and considerations: a reality-check Front Hum Dyn 2024 1 11 5 25 10.3389/fhumd.2023.1289255 · DOI
  34. [63]Knox B Christoffersen P Leggitt K Woodruff Z Haber MH Justice, vulnerable populations, and the use of conversational AI in psychotherapy Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 48 50 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191040 37130410 37130410 · DOI
  35. [65]Opel DJ Kious BM Cohen IG AI as a mental health therapist for adolescents JAMA Pediatr 2023 12 01 177 12 1253 4 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.4215 37843845 2810490 37843845 · DOI
  36. [67]Singh OP Chatbots in psychiatry: can treatment gap be lessened for psychiatric disorders in India Indian J Psychiatry 2019 61 3 225 10.4103/0019-5545.258323 31142896 IJPsy-61-225 31142896 PMC6532477 · DOI
  37. [68]Nomura T Software agents and robots in mental therapy: psychological and sociological perspectives AI Soc 2008 3 4 23 4 471 84 10.1007/S00146-008-0180-3 · DOI
  38. [69]Doraiswamy PM Blease C Bodner K Artificial intelligence and the future of psychiatry: insights from a global physician survey Artif Intell Med 2020 01 102 101753 10.1016/j.artmed.2019.101753 31980092 S0933-3657(19)30650-5 31980092 · DOI · Paper page
  39. [70]Balcombe L De Leo D Digital mental health challenges and the horizon ahead for solutions JMIR Ment Health 2021 03 29 8 3 e26811 10.2196/26811 33779570 v8i3e26811 33779570 PMC8077937 · DOI
  40. [73]Gültekin M Şahin M The use of artificial intelligence in mental health services in Turkey: what do mental health professionals think? Cyberpsychol 2024 02 01 18 1 25 10.5817/cp2024-1-6 · DOI
  41. [74]Li L Peng W Rheu MM Factors predicting intentions of adoption and continued use of artificial intelligence chatbots for mental health: examining the role of UTAUT model, stigma, privacy concerns, and artificial intelligence hesitancy Telemed J E Health 2024 03 30 3 722 30 10.1089/tmj.2023.0313 37756224 37756224 · DOI
  42. [75]Lodha P De Pablos P Zhang X The ethical dilemma of using robotics in psychotherapy Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Blockchain and 5G for the Digital Transformation of the Healthcare Industry: A Movement Toward More Resilient and Inclusive Societies 2024 New York, NY Academic Press 437 46
  43. [76]Ahmadpour N Ludden G Peters D Vold K Editorial: responsible digital health Front Digit Health 2021 1 21 3 841477 10.3389/fdgth.2021.841477 35128520 35128520 PMC8813777 · DOI
  44. [77]Haber Y Levkovich I Hadar-Shoval D Elyoseph Z The artificial third: a broad view of the effects of introducing generative artificial intelligence on psychotherapy JMIR Ment Health 2024 05 23 11 e54781 10.2196/54781 38787297 v11i1e54781 38787297 PMC11137430 · DOI
  45. [78]Ayhan Y The impact of artificial intelligence on psychiatry: benefits and concerns-an essay from a disputed 'author' Turk Psikiyatri Derg 2023 34 2 65 7 10.5080/u27365 37357892 37357892 PMC10552174 · DOI
  46. [79]Ruane E Birhane A Ventresque A Conversational AI: social and ethical considerations Proceedings of the 27th AIAI Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science 2019 AICS '19 December 5-6, 2019 Galway, Ireland 2019 10.4324/9781032686783-4 · DOI
  47. [80]Tekin Ş Robson GJ Tsou JY Ethical issues surrounding artificial intelligence technologies in mental health: psychotherapy chatbots Technology Ethics 2023 New York, NY Routledge
  48. [81]Martinez-Martin N Buchman DZ Davis K Cratsley K Radden J Bárd I Trusting the bot: addressing the ethical challenges of consumer digital mental health therapy Developments in Neuroethics and Bioethics 2020 New York, NY Elsevier 63 91
  49. [82]Tekin Ş Is big data the new stethoscope? Perils of digital phenotyping to address mental illness Philos Technol 2020 03 02 34 3 447 61 10.1007/S13347-020-00395-7 · DOI · Paper page
  50. [85]van Lingen MN Giesbertz NA van Tintelen JP Jongsma KR Why we should understand conversational AI as a tool Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 22 4 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191039 37130401 37130401 · DOI
  51. [86]Binkley CE Pilkington B The actionless agent: an account of human-CAI relationships Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 25 7 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191035 37130395 37130395 · DOI
  52. [87]Al-Ameery-Brosche I Resch F Holm-Hadulla RM Funke J Wink M Emotional robotics: curse or blessing in psychiatric care? Intelligence - Theories and Applications 2022 Cham, Switzerland Springer 261 71
  53. [88]Whitby B The ethical implications of non-human agency in health care Proceedings of the 50th Annual Convention of the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaviour 2014 AISB '14 April 1-4, 2014 London, UK 1 4
  54. [89]Norouzi Z Amirkhani F Babaii S Counselor bots as mental healthcare assistants and some ethical challenges Soc Robot Soc Inst 2023 100 9 10.3233/FAIA220608 · DOI
  55. [90]Rahsepar Meadi M Batelaan N van Balkom AJ Metselaar S Responsible use of CAI: an evolving field Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 53 5 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191041 37130409 37130409 · DOI
  56. [91]Ferdynus MP Five reasons why a conversational artificial intelligence cannot be treated as a moral agent in psychotherapy Arch Psych Psych 2023 12 17 25 4 26 9 10.12740/app/170132 · DOI
  57. [92]Blease C Kharko A Annoni M Gaab J Locher C Machine learning in clinical psychology and psychotherapy education: a mixed methods pilot survey of postgraduate students at a Swiss University Front Public Health 2021 9 623088 10.3389/fpubh.2021.623088 33898374 33898374 PMC8064116 · DOI
  58. [93]Vagwala MK Asher R Conversational artificial intelligence and distortions of the psychotherapeutic frame: issues of boundaries, responsibility, and industry interests Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 28 30 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191050 37130384 37130384 · DOI
  59. [94]Plakun EM Psychotherapy and artificial intelligence J Psychiatr Pract 2023 11 01 29 6 476 9 10.1097/PRA.0000000000000748 37948172 00131746-202311000-00007 37948172 · DOI
  60. [95]Hurley ME Lang BH Smith JN Therapeutic artificial intelligence: does agential status matter? Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 33 5 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191037 37130404 37130404 · DOI
  61. [96]Ho A Perry J What we owe those who chat woe: a relational lens for mental health apps Am J Bioeth 2023 10 23 10 77 80 10.1080/15265161.2023.2250306 37812122 37812122 · DOI
  62. [97]Amram B Klempner U Shturman S Greenbaum D Therapists or replicants? Ethical, legal, and social considerations for using ChatGPT in therapy Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 40 2 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191022 37130418 37130418 · DOI
  63. [98]Denecke K Potential and pitfalls of conversational agents in health care Nat Rev Dis Primers 2023 11 23 9 1 66 10.1038/s41572-023-00482-x 37996477 10.1038/s41572-023-00482-x 37996477 · DOI
  64. [101]Volkmer S Meyer-Lindenberg A Schwarz E Large language models in psychiatry: opportunities and challenges Psychiatry Res 2024 09 339 116026 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116026 38909412 S0165-1781(24)00311-1 38909412 · DOI
  65. [102]Laacke S Bias and epistemic injustice in conversational AI Am J Bioeth 2023 05 02 23 5 46 8 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191055 37130400 37130400 · DOI
  66. [103]Holohan M Fiske A "Like I'm talking to a real person": exploring the meaning of transference for the use and design of AI-based applications in psychotherapy Front Psychol 2021 12 720476 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720476 34646209 34646209 PMC8502869 · DOI
  67. [104]Skorburg JA Yam J Is there an app for that?: ethical issues in the digital mental health response to COVID-19 AJOB Neurosci 2022 05 14 13 3 177 90 10.1080/21507740.2021.1918284 33989127 33989127 · DOI
  68. [105]Cao XJ Liu XQ Artificial intelligence-assisted psychosis risk screening in adolescents: practices and challenges World J Psychiatry 2022 10 19 12 10 1287 97 10.5498/wjp.v12.i10.1287 36389087 36389087 PMC9641379 · DOI
  69. [106]De Proost M Pozzi G Conversational artificial intelligence and the potential for epistemic injustice Am J Bioeth 2023 05 02 23 5 51 3 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191020 37130408 37130408 · DOI · Paper page
  70. [107]Gray J Deception mode: how conversational AI can respect patient autonomy Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 55 7 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191023 37130415 37130415 · DOI
  71. [108]Wadden JJ The postphenomenological impact of conversational artificial intelligence on autonomy and psychological integrity Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 37 40 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191025 37130411 37130411 · DOI
  72. [109]Stiefel S 'The chatbot will see you now': mental health confidentiality concerns in software therapy SSRN Journal Preprint posted online July 19, 2018 10.2139/ssrn.3166640 · DOI
  73. [110]Torous J Cerrato P Halamka J Targeting depressive symptoms with technology Mhealth 2019 07 5 19 10.21037/mhealth.2019.06.04 31463305 mh-05-2019.06.04 31463305 PMC6691087 · DOI
  74. [111]Ferreri F Bourla A Mouchabac S Karila L e-Addictology: an overview of new technologies for assessing and intervening in addictive behaviors Front Psychiatry 2018 9 51 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00051 29545756 29545756 PMC5837980 · DOI
  75. [113]Youssef A Abramoff M Char D Is the algorithm good in a bad world, or has it learned to be bad? The ethical challenges of "locked" versus "continuously learning" and "autonomous" versus "assistive" AI tools in healthcare Am J Bioeth 2023 05 23 5 43 5 10.1080/15265161.2023.2191052 37130390 37130390 · DOI
  76. [114]Sweeney C Potts C Ennis E Bond R Mulvenna MD O’neill S Malcolm M Kuosmanen L Kostenius C Vakaloudis A Mcconvey G Turkington R Hanna D Nieminen H Vartiainen A Robertson A Mctear MF Can chatbots help support a person’s mental health? Perceptions and views from mental healthcare professionals and experts ACM Trans Comput Healthcare 2021 07 15 2 3 1 15 10.1145/3453175 · DOI
  77. [115]Lewanowicz A Wiśniewski M Oronowicz-Jaśkowiak W The use of machine learning to support the therapeutic process - strengths and weaknesses Postep Psychiatr Neurol 2022 12 31 4 167 73 10.5114/ppn.2022.125050 37081907 50138 37081907 PMC10112525 · DOI
  78. [116]Sachan D Self-help robots drive blues away Lancet Psychiatry 2018 07 5 7 547 10.1016/s2215-0366(18)30230-x 29941139 · DOI
  79. [117]Beauchamp TL Childress JF Principles of Biomedical Ethics. 8th edition 2019 New York, NY Oxford University Press
  80. [119]Parker L Bero L Gillies D Raven M Mintzes B Jureidini J Grundy Q Mental health messages in prominent mental health apps Ann Fam Med 2018 07 16 4 338 42 10.1370/afm.2260 29987082 16/4/338 29987082 PMC6037510 · DOI
  81. [121]Hedgecoe AM Critical bioethics: beyond the social science critique of applied ethics Bioethics 2004 04 18 2 120 43 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2004.00385.x 15146853 15146853 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Rahsepar Meadi, M., Sillekens, T., Metselaar, S., van Balkom, A., Bernstein, J., & Batelaan, N.
Affiliations
  • GGz centraal (NL)
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
  • Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
ORCID
Venue
JMIR Mental Health
Publisher
JMIR Publications Inc.
Published
2025-02-21
Volume
12
Pages
e60432
ISSN
2368-7959 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2196/60432
PMC
PMC11890142
OpenAlex
W4407833429
Cited by
211
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 164 · 2025: 47
FWCI
24.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • JMIR Mental Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • VU Research Portal (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
Keywords
conversational AI, chatbots, mental health services, AI ethics, embodied AI, suicidality, trust and transparency, accountability, empathy, justice, digital literacy, anthropomorphism, deception, autonomy, informed consent, mental health apps, human-AI interaction, digital divide, health disparities, crisis management, harm reduction
MeSH terms
Artificial Intelligence, Mental Disorders, Communication, Humans, Mental Health Services

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review